Senior Social Worker (HUD-VASH) - Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration

Summary The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is recruiting for two Senior Social Workers to serve within the Housing and Urban Development - Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program. The HUD-VASH social worker functions as an intensive case manager for chronically homeless veterans, a special patient population with highly complex health and/ or mental health problems. Responsibilities The Senior Social Worker duties include, but are not limited to: Provides case management for a caseload of veterans in the HUD-VASH program. Provides psychosocial screening, assessment, counseling and crisis intervention. Develops a comprehensive treatment plan in collaboration with the veteran. Coordinates family conferences and provides education to families as well as to the veteran. Reviews agreements between HCV landlords, Public Housing Authorities and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUD-VASH placements. Performs site visits of HUD-VASH apartments to ensure that veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes. Verifies the veteran's status, eligibility for VA medical care, and eligibility of program participation. Responsible for ensuring that chronically homeless veterans are considered as primary participants for program acceptance. Responsible for collecting and submitting HUD-VASH Program participant data as outlined by NEPEC evaluation procedures and the VA Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System (HOMES) registry. Provides individual, group, and/or family psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions to assist veterans with securing, adjusting to, and maintaining stable housing. Coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery and linking and referring veterans to the VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies. The Senior Social Worker selected for this position will need to have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, especially in crisis intervention and working with an interdisciplinary team. They will be using short-term, solution focused counseling with individuals and families who may be in crisis as well as providing education and referral for resources and benefits, case management, and post-intervention follow-up. Provides psychosocial treatment to various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds. Independently assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members. Formulates and implements a treatment plan, identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed, in collaboration with the patient, family, and interdisciplinary treatment team. Independently provides a full range of assessment and evaluation services appropriate to the care setting. Works with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues to include patient's decision-making capacity regarding health care; Develops person-centered, culturally sensitive treatment plans to address the needs of patients. Creates plans of action to ensuring assessment and crisis intervention services are maximized based on circumstances and availability of resources. Conducts crisis intervention strategies, including assessment and diagnosis. Conducts outreach to vulnerable populations, including disadvantaged areas. Identifies impacted Veterans and connect them with VA and community resources. Assists with locating family members and loved ones. Assists with contacting hospitals or other relevant locations to locate medical records or emergency documentation Provide subject matter expertise in all phases of disaster response plans, including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Available Travel: Up to 50% may be required. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment NOTE: Prior to accepting a final employment offer, all selected applicants will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding regarding deployment responsibilities You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. You may be required to serve a probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Must pass pre-employment physical examination and maintain CDT physical readiness. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Must be able to meet physical demands which include strenuous physical activity to include carrying persons and equipment, walking long distances over difficult terrain, running, climbing, working long hours in primitive or arduous conditions, long periods of standing, and bending and stooping. Driver's License Qualifications Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. Master's degree in Social Work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the school of social work is fully accredited. Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in Social Work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work. Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade. Experience: At least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment and are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes. Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: Lifting and carrying light objects under 15 pounds using two hands is required. Walking up to two hours is required. Incumbent will also need to have the ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination, correctable vision, hearing with or without aid, depth perception, ability to distinguish basic colors and emotional and mental stability. This position requires incumbent to drive a government vehicle. The incumbent must be able to move freely on uncertain terrain, in the community, to perform duties related to homeless outreach. The applicant must be able to navigate buildings and other community settings that may not be ADA compliant. This could include, but is not limited to, i.e. ascending and descending stairs; navigating an uneven ground at a homeless campsite, community homeless shelters. Education Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.